The chairman of the board at Intuit is heavily involved with the west coast VC community.
The Next Generation Bends Over
21–30 of 216 posts
Re: The Next Generation Bends Over
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Fuck You money" is such a myth. More on this soon in another post.
I look forward to it. Just remember I'm not saying they should do nothing, but rather they can work on something that doesn't need to be monetizable. I think the post will end up being contrarian just to be contrarian. This site and YCombinator were created as a result of "fuck you" money.
"I think the post will end up being contrarian just to be contrarian."
If your mind is already made up then you don't need to read it.
Re: The Next Generation Bends Over
#23The chairman of Intuit is heavily involved in the west coast VC community.
Re: The Next Generation Bends Over
#24Is it me, or is 37 signals being disingenuous. They rail against people who take VC money. At the same time they take money from an investment firm. They they say that their taking money was okay because they wanted the advice of the investor: http://37signals.com/svn/archives2/bezos_expeditions_invests... Other people taking money to get access to investor advice is bad and a disease. They rant against startups that…
We say don't take money up front. Money up front is the sin: You're entering into a financial arrangement when you have no leverage. It's the worst possible time to do business. Re: Eyeballs... Our problem with action for eyeballs is when you have nothing to sell the brains behind the eyeballs. Just building an audience with nothing to sell (beyond ads) is what we rail against. But building an audience that could als…
Often times, companies have no choice but to raise money up front. Tesla and Facebook had to, and both seem to be well on their way to changing the way we behave environmentally and socially.
Also, I really really really do not understand all the crap you guys give ad based websites/business models. Advert business has well and long been an established industry, dripping with cash. There are tons of websites out there generating millions of dollars for their owners. From POF to sleazy SEO blogs, these people generate enough money to live comfortably, and they're happy with that. And when I see DHH rail against ad based sites at conferences in his snarky ways, it's very disingenuous, as if he's completely blind to the world of those who are making bank from ads.
Re: The Next Generation Bends Over
#25A bit harsh, for something so speculative. It's a rare founder who has no offer he'd take. In fact, if you have shareholders or employees with options, and someone makes you an offer that's significantly above the expected value of your company, fiduciary responsibility requires you to take it. You can bend this requirement to some extent by overestimating your expected value, but there is always some number you'd ha…
Agreed. Especially, this part:
They were growing rapidly and figured out the revenue game.
We have no idea how close Mint was to making good revenue, especially if lead-gen was their only source. Maybe they figured lead-gen wasn't lucrative enough and decided to take the early payout over losing time and money in the longer run?
Re: The Next Generation Bends Over
#26Is it me, or is 37 signals being disingenuous. They rail against people who take VC money. At the same time they take money from an investment firm. They they say that their taking money was okay because they wanted the advice of the investor: http://37signals.com/svn/archives2/bezos_expeditions_invests... Other people taking money to get access to investor advice is bad and a disease. They rant against startups that…
We say don't take money up front. Money up front is the sin: You're entering into a financial arrangement when you have no leverage. It's the worst possible time to do business. Re: Eyeballs... Our problem with action for eyeballs is when you have nothing to sell the brains behind the eyeballs. Just building an audience with nothing to sell (beyond ads) is what we rail against. But building an audience that could als…
What the hell do you mean by "Just building an audience with nothing to sell (beyond ads)" - you're attracting the audience with content - that's what you sell to those brains behind eyeballs and you sell ads on the side. Where is the problem with that? That's what media business was/is about for the last couple of centuries.
How can you build an audience with "nothing to sell" anyways? What kind of audience is that, spam bots?
Re: The Next Generation Bends Over
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
I look forward to it. Just remember I'm not saying they should do nothing, but rather they can work on something that doesn't need to be monetizable. I think the post will end up being contrarian just to be contrarian. This site and YCombinator were created as a result of "fuck you" money.
"I think the post will end up being contrarian just to be contrarian." If your mind is already made up then you don't need to read it.
It's just a guess, not a certainty. Your mind seems pretty made up about Mint without knowing all the details surrounding the acquisition.
What's kind of funny is the vast majority of the 37signals philosophy I agree with. Hell, we turned down VC funding in part because we really liked what you guys were able to do without it, and the fact that investor interests and founder interests often conflict. But to lambast someone for taking the payday of a lifetime without knowing all the circumstances surrounding not only their company, but their life, doesn't seem right.
Re: The Next Generation Bends Over
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
We say don't take money up front. Money up front is the sin: You're entering into a financial arrangement when you have no leverage. It's the worst possible time to do business. Re: Eyeballs... Our problem with action for eyeballs is when you have nothing to sell the brains behind the eyeballs. Just building an audience with nothing to sell (beyond ads) is what we rail against. But building an audience that could als…
Often times, companies have no choice but to raise money up front. Tesla and Facebook had to, and both seem to be well on their way to changing the way we behave environmentally and socially. Also, I really really really do not understand all the crap you guys give ad based websites/business models. Advert business has well and long been an established industry, dripping with cash. There are tons of websites out ther…
"Tesla and Facebook had to"
Tesla makes physical products. They manufacture. They have inventory. They have a factory. Money is required because they have significant initial capital expenses.
I take issue with "Facebook had to". Facebook chose to, they didn't have to. Software companies don't have to. They choose to.
Re: The Next Generation Bends Over
#29Jason you're projecting your ideology on others. That's a Fail smell.
There's nothing wrong with a decent exit. The old guard doesn't have to die, and right now we're relying on the old guard since they're almost the only way startups can get liquidity.
The Silicon Valley venture game isn't about making lifestyle businesses. It's about making good returns on investment. $170m was a respectable return for everyone involved.
Re: The Next Generation Bends Over
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
Mint could have IPO'd, is the subtext here.
I don't know...being a public company kinda sucks. Unless you're into substantial overhead costs ($10 MM per year), red tape, excessive meetings and chief diversity officers. I'm not sure if an IPO is the subtext; I couldn't imagine 37signals ever going public. Then again, at one point in time I could never imagine them taking venture funding. [1] [1] http://37signals.com/svn/archives2/bezos_expeditions_invests...
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